Friday, October 06, 2006

How It All Began: The Cambridge Interviewer Interviewed

You've all heard the horror stories of the Cambridge interview: a particular
favourite is the one about the student who walks into the interview room to
find the interviewer hidden behind a thick newspaper. The interviewer then
barks, "Surprise me!" to which the student then produces a lighter,
sets the newspaper on fire, and immediately gains admission to Cambridge!

I
once thought stories like that were actually true. Thankfully, although my own
interview was a traumatic experience I'd like to forget, I now know that the
Cambridge interview is a much more structured and logical experience than the
horror stories circulated over the years. In an effort to shed more light on
the interview process, I called at the office of long-time Cambridge interviewer
to Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Dr Visvanathan Navaratnam of Christ's College,
Cambridge (pictured here).

I still remember two years ago, when I was a mere A-Levels student, walking into my interview
dressed impeccably in a suit, right up to the tie, expecting to find a large
intimidating bushy-eyebrowed Cambridge don dressed in full black robes staring
hawkishly down wire-rimmed glasses at me behind a huge oak desk and barking at
me to hurry the hell up. I'd heard all the horror stories about Dr V
Navaratnam; that he was a demanding taskmaster, that he yelled at interviewees,
that he asked you so many scientific questions that you eventually broke down
and ran out the door crying for your mummy. Instead the door opened and out
stepped this genial-looking Asian man dressed in an open shirt and with
large glasses. I blinked. This was Dr V. Navaratnam, interviewer extraordinaire,
the evil Cambridge don who ate undergraduates for breakfast, looking as
laid-back as a surfer dude on an Australian beach in summertime.

My interview proceeded rather smoothly, even though it focused heavily on stuff
that I wrote in my additional Personal Statement. Dr Nava said that this was
because of the fact that the interviews are designed to test interviewees'
ability to think on their feet and create logical arguments to back up their
assertions, not only to test their academic prowess. It's all spelled out on this page, which clearly answers the question
"What are we looking for?" "Students who enjoy a
challenge." And that, folks, is what Cambridge is all about; one big
fat challenge.

However, there was a tale going around that both last year's successful
applicants had their hands shaken by Dr Nava as they left the interview room,
with him saying "I hope to see you in Cambridge". Dr Nava assured me
that interviewers don't leave telltale clues as to whether a candidate is
successful or not, and that he spoke to the applicants simply because he really
DID want to see them get in. He was just very good at predicting the successful
candidates. Candidates should remain positive throughout the interview, no
matter what the interviewer says, because the interviewer's behaviour is
supposed to be completely neutral.

When I asked him about KYUEM (my old A-Level college), Dr Nava replied that he thought very highly of
the college and remarked on their high standards, saying of KYUEM candidates
"they are quite impressive". Regarding the controversial EEE offer
given to certain candidates applying to Christ's College, he said it was a sort
of psychological test by the College. "They want to see what happens when
the student isn't under stress to perform well academically," he
explained, stating that while Cambridge colleges usually LIKE to stress their
applicants, Christ's sometimes decides to experiment in the opposite direction.
Usually, however, the students perform well in their exams anyway.

Regarding the actual power of interviewers to make offers and to decide which
candidates get in, he reassured me that there was no way that the interviewer
could allow a candidate in, unless said interviewer happened to be the Senior
Tutor of the college to which the particular interviewee was applying, and the
interviewer was very impressed with the interviewee's performance.
Unconditional offers are rare, although one was recently documented in a rival A-Level college when an engineer currently studying in Queen's College was
reportedly admitted on the spot. However, Dr Nava was quick to affirm that
interviewers only writes down his views for the colleges' admissions tutors to
peruse and make the final selection. No interviewer should be "easier to
get past" than any other, as they compare notes on candidates before
submission to the University.

His general advice to students is to aim high, because Cambridge University is
all about excellence. To gain entry, some part of the application will have to
be outstanding and catch the University's attention, be it the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) score, the Bio-Medical Admissions Test (BMAT) score, or the Law National Admissions Test (LNAT). Of course,
the interview also counts, but it is not everything. In recent years, several
Colleges that have experienced declining academic performance have revised
their admissions policy to favour academically-minded applicants. As such,
candidates can no longer expect to gain admission purely on their
extracurricular achievements, whereas examples abound of successful applicants
who have outstanding academic prowess but mediocre extracurricular merits. In
short, the nerds have it lucky, ladies and gentlemen.

Dr Navaratnam and Dr Richard Barnes, Senior Tutor of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, are set to leave for
Southeast Asia on October 17th for this year's round of interviews. I'd like to
take this opportunity to wish all applicants the best of luck, and to advise
you all to aim high. If you do get in, come pay me a visit in Jesus College. We
have the best lunch for the best price (and served by the best-looking
waitresses) in Cambridge. Honest.

really? I'm using Firefox and this thing fits fine in my window. earlier I was told by some very eminent authorities (and by this I mean a giant talking cat) that my beast of a banner was too big, so I made it smaller. dangit! have to pull my Photoshop out again for this one.

hmm.. the warning bout the bland food came out too late. though good thing i brought my sambal belacan(which im yet to use.. emma has terible cooking facilities!!) with me...o, and also cause i cant cook;-)

bout the interview, it depends really.. try to impress dr barnes cause he might take u in if he really liked u in ur interview...he is the senior tutor, and if he writes u a good enough recommendation, u might at least be pooled and maybe if u're really lucky/good, you'll get into emma!!

banahnah: whoa! you're the first person I've heard of this year being interviewed by Dr Nava. yep, his questions will be really scientific, but I personally believe he's an easier interviewer to get past than Dr Barnes. (For students from KYUEM anyway). You DIDN'T run out crying? He must be becoming nicer. Do drop me an e-mail and tell me about it. And set your browser to www.bmat.org.uk , Captain...maximum warp!

oh i didnt apply for medicine [no moolah!] applied for natural science.. they are interviewing everyone under the sun.. my schoolmate got interviewed by Dr Barnes for econs.. another girl who applied for NatSci is going to be interviewed on thurs.. this NatSci friend of mine applied for Emmaneul too so its a double for her! luckily for us its held in my school so i know the place around.. less intimidating.. :)

Hey I'm not sure if this discussion is already obsolete but I just had my interview with Dr. V 2 days ago! Surprisingly he was actually quite a nice person to talk to! I kinda screwed up a little .but he said he hoped to see me in cambridge. as selfish as this sounds, I really hope he meant it and that he didn't say this to every interviewee on that day!cuz then it would be meaningless which i really hope would not be the case!

About Me

The Angry Medic is an idiot who got into Cambridge University due to his unusually attractive eyelashes. For 6 years he ranted his way through the freakshow and wide-screen madness that is the medical course at Cambridge and Imperial College London, while finding time to express an opinion on medicine, social issues, and anything else he considers pains in the gluteal region. He can now be found being terrorised by patients somewhere near you.

Have you been overly enthralled by the allure of Cambridge and want to give it a crack? Has someone hit you on the head with a large frying pan and now you want to go to medical school? Do you want to join me in a suicidal leap off the Bridge of Sighs? Or have you a rant more boring than mine? Drop me a line at angrymedic [at] gmail [dot] com

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